Both NCP factions say there is no split, no dispute in party
Mumbai (PTI): Senior leaders from both Sharad Pawar- and Ajit Pawar-led factions of the Nationalist Congress Party have said that there was no split in the party.
The Election Commission has called the rival factions of the NCP for a personal hearing on October 6 following a petition filed by the Ajit group claiming that he has been elected as the party’s national president.
“It is unfair on the part of the Election Commission of India to treat our case as a dispute within a political party when we have consistently maintained that there is no split,” said Jayant Patil, the Maharashtra unit chief of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, on Tuesday.
“Sharad Pawar in his letter to the ECI stressed the fact that he never faced any opposition within the party. There is no dispute. There has been no opposition to my (Sharad Pawar’s) policies from the party on any public platform,” Patil told reporters.
“Pawar also sought time from the ECI to explain his side because there was no dispute but there has been some exchange of emails (with Ajit Pawar’s side). The ECI, without giving time to (Sharad) Pawar, concluded that there is a dispute,” he added.
Asked about Patil’s comments, Chhagan Bhujbal, Maharashtra cabinet minister and senior leader from the Ajit Pawar group, said, “It is good as there is no dispute in the party. Some changes have taken place, such as change of national president....Ajit Pawar is now the party’s president and we have already communicated this to the ECI.”.
Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar’s leadership in July this year and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra as deputy chief minister.
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Remarks against St Francis Xavier: Right-wing speaker Gautam Khattar gets bail
Panaji (PTI): A court in Goa on Saturday granted bail to right-wing speaker Gautam Khattar, who was arrested after he allegedly made derogatory comments against St Francis Xavier.
Judicial Magistrate First Class, Vasco, granted regular bail to Khattar, currently admitted to Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim for treatment of chest pain after he was shifted from the District Hospital in Mapusa two days back.
A row erupted after a video of remarks by Khattar, the founder of Sanatan Mahasangh, at an event on April 18 in the presence of Swami Brahmeshanand, State Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho and BJP MLAs Sankulp Amonkar and Daji (Krishna) Salkar, went viral.
St Francis Xavier is revered as the patron saint of Goa.
The controversial remarks led to the Vasco Police registering an FIR against Khattar on charges of hurting religious sentiments and creating enmity between groups.
He was detained in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, by local police. His custody was later handed over to the Goa Crime Branch, according to officials.
